Lausanne, March 1 (AFP/APP): Sport’s top court on Monday cancelled the suspension of the Iranian judo federation, imposed after it ordered judoka Saeid Mollaei not to fight against an Israeli.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) said it was referring the case back to the International Judo Federation which imposed the ban in October 2019. CAS said the Iranian federation had “committed severe violations” of the international federation rules and should be punished accordingly. “However, the CAS Panel concluded that the kind of sanction (unlimited suspension) imposed in the challenged decision of 22 October 2019 had no legal basis in the IJF regulations,” said the press statement.
In the meantime, the ruling leaves Iranian judokas free to take part in the rearranged Tokyo Olympics this year. The Iranian federation hailed a “great victory” and said it hoped the decision would lead to an “improvement” in relations with the International Judo Federation. Mollaei, a former world champion who now competes for Mongolia, claimed he was ordered by the Iranian federation to throw a match to avoid a combat with the Israeli Sagi Muki, who then went on to win the 2019 world 81kg title with the then Iranian taking bronze without fighting him.
Israel’s head coach Moshe Fonti delivered a similar version to The Times of Israel: “Iranian intelligence agents went to his home in Iran and to the judo hall to warn him,” declared the newspaper.
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